Red Room Sound Studio
Red Room Sound Studio: A private recording oasis for some of the biggest names in the music industry.
In spite of everything - a star-studded roster of artists, two world-class experts at the helm, and even a street-level sign on Water Street - Red Room Sound Studio in Torrington remains something of a mystery to many. Surprisingly, that’s how owners Lucinda Rowe-Connolly and Mick Connolly like it.
“Nobody really knows what’s happening up here,” says Lucinda. “That’s an allure for some musicians. Some of them like to just disappear and know that they’re not on display when they’re recording.”
According to Mick, this privacy was a large part of the appeal of moving into their new space. Previously, the two had hosted a studio in the lower level of their Litchfield home, but it was difficult to give musicians the privacy they desired in a residential neighborhood, complete with nosy neighbors whose curiosity about big-name acts could cause major interruptions to their recording sessions.
Upon entering Red Room’s new location, it’s easy to see why the couple chose it after more than a decade of searching for a more permanent home for their studio. A small, easily-missed alcove at street level reveals a broad set of stairs leading up to the second floor, where Lucinda and Mick have created something truly unique.
The couple’s previous basement studio space had only eight-foot ceilings. “When we saw this,” Mick said, gesturing to the large, high-ceilinged space of the Red Room Recording Studio, “and the tin ceilings, that’s what really sold us on it. It just sounds so great in here.”
Built in 1912, the building was once a hall for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal organization whose past popularity in Torrington shows in the presence of their three-ring symbol, both on the Water Street building that once housed them and on numerous older graves in local cemeteries. More recently, the building was a performance hall for the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts, but had not been occupied for twelve years before Red Room signed a lease for the space in January 2020, mere months before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The studio’s planned grand opening was set for the weekend of March 14, 2020, the very moment when much of the country went into lockdown. Prior to that, Mick and Lucinda had been working sixteen and seventeen hour days preparing the studio: painting, wiring, decorating, and moving equipment.
The result of their work is amazing: a truly all-analog, all-tape recording studio in the heart of downtown Torrington, complete with lush, seventies-style furnishings and red-painted walls that give the impression of having entered a world very different from the bustling street below.
Unfortunately, after only one jam session with their band to test out their new home, Red Room Sound Studio, along with the rest of the country, had to figure out how to navigate a truly new world.
“We couldn’t do anything for months,” Lucinda says. Red Room was set up for both live shows and private recording sessions, with a ticketing area leading into the main studio and merchandise for sale. The pandemic entirely cut off the possibility of the live events which Lucinda and Mick had planned, and with many people staying home in order to slow the spread of the virus, it did away with much of their recording business as well.
The couple’s next actions speak to their resilience and resourcefulness. Towards the summer, they began to use the ample space available in the studio to host socially-distanced recording events, including livestreams, which gave artists whose livelihood had been disrupted by the pandemic a way to continue to engage their fans.
They also began a partnership program with the Warner Theatre called “The Other Side of the Tracks.” In it, they feature up-and-coming artists, giving them the opportunity to tour the studio, talk to Lucinda and Mick, and record three songs in the studio which are then uploaded to YouTube.
Working with younger artists in the old-school, analog studio is an especially meaningful activity for Lucinda, who explains, "This is how the Beatles did it, this is how the Rolling Stones did it, this is how Led Zeppelin did it. A lot of younger artists come up here and say how they've never heard anything on tape before - but I ask them their favorite artists, and they absolutely have."
Red Room Sound Studio was also instrumental in the success of the main stage at the 2021 Litchfield Hills Creative Festival, which was another partnership with the Warner Theatre. “It was a huge undertaking,” says Lucinda, “but that kind of festival is what I do. I said, ‘Bring it on.’” Thanks to Mick’s work as a producer and the sound company brought in by Red Room, the event ran smoothly. All the bands playing, with the exception of Corey Glover, the headliner, were Connecticut-based.
As time goes on and the community and the country continue to adapt to life with COVID-19, Lucinda and Mick keep making plans on how to grow both their business and the Torrington arts scene. They will be partnering with the Warner again for a community concert series, and also intend to host a series of their own called “In Studio with the Stars,” featuring intimate evenings with big-name musicians. The couple is also always on the lookout for ways to partner with local non-profits and hope to begin hosting benefit concerts to help with donation pushes in the near future.
Although circumstances have made for a difficult start, with Lucinda and Mick behind the wheel, Red Room Sound Studio cannot expect to stay in the shadows for long.
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